Jim Carrey Loves Phillip Morris

Jim Carrey will star in I Love You Phillip Morris, a dark comedy that was written and will mark the directing debut of Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, the writing team behind Bad Santa. Andrew Lazar and Far Shariat will produce, says Variety.

Carrey will play a conman whose love for a cellmate leads him to make several prison escapes.

A financing deal for the less-than-$20 million film is about to close with Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp.

Based on a book by Houston Chronicle crime reporter Steve McVicker, the fact-based film casts Carrey as Steven Russell, a married father whose exploits landed him in the Texas criminal justice system.

He fell madly in love with his cellmate, who eventually was set free, which led Russell to escape from Texas prisons four times.